Former Nashville Sports Greats Set for Inaugural Sports Lecture Series Friday

l-r; Chris Sanders, Former Titans player; Chris Hope, Former Titans player and Shan Foster,
former Vanderbilt Basketball player

NASHVILLE, TN — A trio of former Nashville sports greats will be the guest speakers as part of the inaugural The Sports Fund Lecture Series event.

Former Tennessee Titans stars Chris Sanders and Chris Hope will be joined by Vanderbilt University basketball record-setter Shan Foster for a panel discussion titled “Life After Sports: Giving Back,” scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Friday, Dec. 8 at McGugin Center on the Vanderbilt campus. Vanderbilt Vice Chancellor and Athletics Director David Williams will moderate the panel.

The program will take place at the Vanderbilt Football Meeting Room at McGugin Center, 2601 Jess Neely Drive. The schedule: 8-8:30 a.m., bagels and coffee, meet-and-greet; program: 8:30-9:30 a.m. 9:30-10 a.m., audience Q and A.

Former Tennessee Titans safety Chris Hope played 11 seasons in the National Football League before retiring after the 2012 season. He spent six of those seasons with the Titans (2007-11), during which he was named to the Pro Bowl in 2008. The Rock Hill, S.C. native was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers out of Florida State University, where he was a two-time Academic All-American. He earned a Super Bowl championship ring with Steelers to cap the 2005 season.

Former Titans wide receiver Chris Sanders was drafted by the then-Houston Oilers in 1995 and played seven seasons for the Oilers/Titans before his NFL career ended in 2002. Sanders graduated from Ohio State University, where he also was an 11-time track and field All-American. The Denver native works at Montgomery Bell Academy as an assistant football and track coach as well as athletic department liaison and admissions counseling.

A native of Kenner, La., Shan Foster (pronounced Shane) retired from a five-year professional basketball career in 2013. He is the all-time leading scorer in Vanderbilt basketball history, earning consensus Southeastern Conference Player of the Year honors in 2008. Since 2015 Foster has worked at the YWCA of Nashville & Middle Tennessee, where he serves as senior director of external affairs and director of MEND, an innovative primary prevention initiative dedicated to ending violence against women and girls in our community.

Space is limited and reservations are encouraged. Tickets to the event are $10 and are available at NowPlayingNashville.com

Limited parking for The Sports Fund Lecture Series event will be available at McGugin Center as well as the Vanderbilt parking garage one block away, at the corner of Highland Avenue and 25th Avenue South.

The Sports Fund, an initiative of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, is a charitable effort dedicated to helping ensure Middle Tennessee children have access to the opportunities sports and team membership provide – ultimately, helping them succeed in school and in life. As a permanent endowed source of funding, The Sports Fund distributes grant funds to nonprofits and community programs in Middle Tennessee that work proactively to prevent a range of issues facing our children, such as childhood obesity, gang membership, teen pregnancy and high school dropout rates. For more information, contact Scott O’Neal at 615-321-4939, ext. 133 or soneal@cfmt.org. Follow The Sports Fund on Facebook or at www.thesportsfund.org.

The Community Foundation exists to promote and facilitate giving in the 40 counties of Middle Tennessee and beyond. It does this by accepting gifts of any size from anyone at any time and by empowering individuals, families, companies, nonprofits, and communities to respond to needs and opportunities that matter. The Community Foundation works with people who have great hearts, whether or not they have great wealth, to craft solutions that reflect their intentions and goals. For more information, call 615-321-4939 or visit www.cfmt.org

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